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Who's Who - Sir Philip Chetwode

Sir Philip Walhouse Chetwode
(1869-1950) served as a cavalry commander during World War One on both
Western and (more effectively) Palestine Fronts.

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Chetwode's early service
was in Burma and he subsequently saw action during the South African War
(1899-1902). With the arrival of the First World War in August 1914
Chetwode, a Brigadier General, was assigned command of 5th Cavalry Brigade
in France and Belgium during 1914-15.

Transferred to command of
2nd Cavalry Division in 1915 he led it on the Western Front until he was
transferred to Egypt to head the Mounted Desert Column during the
First Battle of
Gaza in March 1917. On the verge of a breakthrough during the
battle Chetwode's forces (whose overall conduct in the action was somewhat
erratic) were ordered to withdraw by
Sir Charles Dobell,
leading to the failure of the operation.

Chetwode - popularly
referred to as 'the Bart' on account of his dapper manner - was again to the
fore during the
Second Battle of Gaza the following month; this time however the Turkish
defenders were expecting a British attack, which was consequently repulsed
at great cost.

With Dobell and
Commander-in-Chief
Sir
Archibald Murray's subsequent recall in disgrace, the latter was
replaced by Sir Edmund
Allenby. A cavalry man himself Allenby appointed Chetwode
commander of XX Corps in August 1917, where it performed with notable
success during October's
Third Battle of
Gaza.

With the Turkish line into
Palestine broken
Jerusalem itself fell in December 1917. Chetwode's
corps occupied a secondary role during Allenby's autumn 1918 offensive but
played a significant role at the Battle of Megiddo.

Subsequently appointed a
post-war Commander-in-Chief in India, Chetwode was also made Field Marshal.

He died in 1950.

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Saturday, 22 August, 2009Michael Duffy

A "listening post" was an advanced post, usually in no-man's land, where soldiers tried to find out information about the enemy.